1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a connector, and in particular to a connector having a connector main body, an inner molded portion provided outside the connector main body, and an outer molded portion provided outside the inner molded portion.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A prior art L-shaped connector is shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 8. The process for manufacturing this connector can be divided into three major steps. FIG. 5 shows the finished state of a connector main body 1 in the first step, and this connector main body 1 is constructed mainly from a metallic connecting portion 2, a cable 3, lead wires 4, a metallic holding member 5 and a plastic molded member 6.
In the second step, polypropylene is filled into metal molds for press molding for an inner molded portion to form an inner molded portion 10 on the outside of the connector main body 1 formed in the first step. The polypropylene of the inner molded portion 10 is relatively hard, and this holds the sheath of the cable 3 so that strength is ensured when the cable 3 is pulled.
Further, when the inner molded portion 10 is formed, the sheath of the cable 3 is pressed by the bosses of the metal molds for press molding so that the cable 3 is arranged at an appropriate position inside the inner molded portion 10. The impressions of the bosses remain as boss holes 11.
In the third step, a flexible synthetic resin such as polyvinyl chloride or the like is filled into metal molds for press molding for an outer molded portion to form an outer molded portion 20 on the outside of the inner molded portion 10 formed in the second step. At this time, a portion 3a which covers the cable 3 of the inner molded portion 10 is pressed by the bosses of the metal molds for press molding, and the inner molded portion 10 is arranged at an appropriate position inside the outer molded portion 20. The impressions of the bosses remain as boss holes 21.
By fixing the cable 3 at the appropriate position by the inner molded portion 10, the cable 3 is not exposed to the outside when the outer molded portion 20 is formed, and this makes it possible to achieve an outside appearance having a high degree of design freedom. In this regard, if the connector only had the inner molded portion 10, it would be difficult to arrange the cable 3 at the appropriate position, and there are instances where the cable 3 would be exposed out of the connector (that is, out of the inner molded portion).
In the prior art connector described above, however, when the outer molded portion 20 is formed on the outside of the inner molded portion 10, only the cable 3 is pressed by the bosses of the metal molds for press molding. Therefore, only a circumferential portion 22 of the cable 3 is arranged at the appropriate position.
However, means such as the bosses for positioning the inner molded portion 10 are not present at a central portion 23 of the connector. For this reason, there are cases where the inner molded portion 10 is fixed in a misaligned manner inside the central portion 23 of the connector. In particular, there are cases that, as shown in FIG. 8, the inner molded portion 10 is misaligned in the direction shown by the dashed arrow (or in the opposite direction thereof) with respect to the facing directions (shown by the solid arrows in FIG. 8) of both metal molds used for press molding the outer molded portion 20. This creates an uneven wall thickness for the outer molded portion 20.
In order to solve this problem, it has been proposed that the metal molds for press molding be provided with bosses at the central portion 23 of the connector. However, in such a case, because boss holes due to these bosses will remain in the surface of the outer molded portion 20, moisture and the like that penetrates from the boss holes will corrode the portion of the metallic holding member 5 exposed at the surface of the inner molded portion 10 (see FIG. 6). Further, the presence of the boss holes will mar the attractive appearance of the connector surface.